Thunderstorms and lightning powered by a plume of warm continental air some meteorologists are calling a “Sahara Bubble” were lashing south-east England on Tuesday.
Although heavy – on Tuesday morning, Hastings saw 13mm of rain fall in one hour, while 10mm was recorded in Sandhurst – the rains will be short-lived and yellow weather warnings covering central and eastern England, North Wales and north-west England will expire by midday.
However, after the muggy soaking comes the sunshine – with idyllic temperatures expected for the UK.
Very high – and indeed some weather forecasters are predicting recording breaking – temperatures across southern Europe, the Mediterranean and north Africa are being drawn our way into a low-pressure weather system out to the west.
Thankfully the 48C recently experienced in Algeria is set to manifest as a decidedly cooler 27C in parts of southern Britain by Tuesday afternoon.
This warmer air will continue to cycle our way anti-clockwise over the course of the week, peaking on Friday and Saturday, with highs of 30C or 32C expected.
Given the most recent all-time record for June stands at 35.7C in 1976, it’s not entirely out of the question that the UK could be breaking some of its own records this month…